Wheel Options Campaign Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the statewide Wheel Options drawing, participants must:

Be 18 years or older and work in Washington State

Commute to a paid or volunteer job at a workplace other than a home

Eliminate at least six drive-alone days to and from work during the one-month campaign, and

Commute by walking, bicycling, driving or riding in a carpool or vanpool, riding a bus or Sounder train, teleworking (working from home through the arrangements of an employer) or compressing your work schedule (working more hours per day but fewer days per week so that a trip into work is eliminated).

Local Pierce County prizes are only available to employees who commute to a partnering employer worksite located in Pierce County.

Wheel Options Campaign FAQs

General Campaign Facts

Q. Who sponsors Wheel Options campaigns?The Wheel Options promotion is hosted by the Washington State Ridesharing Organization (WSRO), a non-profit organization for individuals dedicated to encouraging policy makers, employers, and commuters to support the use of alternative transportation modes to reduce air pollution, traffic congestion, and energy consumption throughout Washington State and the Northwest. More information on WSRO can be found at www.wsro.net.

Wheel Options Statewide PromotionThe Wheel Options statewide promotion is hosted each October and is open to qualified commute participants in Washington state. The statewide campaign is a commute-based contest.

Love Your Commute! ContestDetailsWheel Options is encouraging employees around the state to love their commutes by saving, sharing and tracking saved/shared rides during October. Participants who live or work in Washington state and complete and log at least six days of Wheel Options commutes will be entered to win a host of great rewards. Rewards include a $1,500 or $500 Tango Card Reward Link or one of more than a dozen $50 retail gift cards. The top two winners may choose a reward they love, as Tango allows winners to choose between more than eight-dozen top retail brands and non-profits—spending all the winnings on one brand, donating to charity or splitting it up amongst multiple options. You may also set up incentives and rewards to be won in your own network.

Employees will also have the chance to win weekly rewards by posting snapshots of themselves on how they are loving their commute via their preferred, new or combined smart commute mode to the Pierce Trips Facebook page.

1. Employees will need to register for a free account at www.piercetripscalendar.com and log their trips on the online calendar—your employees may already be registered if they participated in Wheel Options or any of our partner sites last year. The deadline for recording trips is Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.

2. Encourage employees to start logging their non-single-occupancy-vehicle commutes on the calendar tracker. Any commute by a shared, saved or active mode counts—vanpool, carpool, bus, train, light rail, streetcar, foot ferry, bicycling, walking, rolling, skating, working from home or compressing your work week counts. Alternatively, you may provide employees the option to record trips on a paper Wheel Options entry forms that you will manage and log for them—there is a copy of this form for your use and distribution in the toolkit. The deadline for recording trips is Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, so if you have paper forms to input, please provide your employees an earlier deadline to turn forms in to you.

Q. What is the purpose of the Wheel Options campaigns?Wheel Options campaign purpose is to encourage new users of alternative commutes (we call these Wheel Options) entice previous commuter back into their non-drive alone habits, and reward commuters currently using an alternative to drive-alone commuting. It is our belief that commuters sometimes need encouragement to start using an alternative to driving alone, as well as reinforce that their use of a high-occupancy or non-motorized commute modes matters in the overall health of our transportation system and our environment in Washington State.

Q. What are the prize eligibility requirements?To be eligible for a Wheel Options Statewide October prize drawing, participants must:

be 18 years or older and work or live in Washington,

commute to a paid or volunteer job at a workplace other than a home or commute to school (unless approved telecommuter)

eliminate at least six drive-alone days to and from work during the one-month campaign, and

travel by walking, bicycling, rolling, skateboarding, driving or riding in a carpool or vanpool, riding transit (bus, train, light rail, trolley, streetcar), walking or bicycling onto a ferry, teleworking (working from home through the arrangements of an employer) or compressing your work schedule (working more hours per day but fewer days per week so that a trip into work is eliminated).

From there you click “Calendar” on the top navigation bar to start logging your trips.

Click on your mode of travel on the left of the calendar.

Confirm or create your trip details.

Click on the days you traveled by that particular commute mode each day.

Complete and track days of a Wheel Options commute mode during a campaign month to be on your way to becoming the next Commute Champion.

Can’t remember your password? Use the forgot your password link and the system will prompt you to enter your email address and a question associated with your account to email it to you. Still can’t log in or need your password reset? email Rideshare@rideshareonline.com for help.

Q. Do I have to record my commuting behavior all at one time or can I use the entry form more than once?You can track your commute daily, weekly or all at once the end of the campaign. We recommend weekly. Be sure to note that you can only calendar 28 days in the past. You must log all trips by Friday, Nov. 9, 2018 to be eligible.

Q. Do I need to use Facebook to be eligible for the prizes?Yes & No. To qualify for campaign reward drawings, you do not need to ‘like’ Wheel Options on Facebook – you just need to register and track at least six days of non-single-occupancy vehicle commutes. However, there are weekly additional prizes for participants who would like to participate in the Facebook element of the promotion – those folks need to ‘like’ the Pierce Trips Facebook page and submit a prize drawing entry via the same Facebook site – prize entry link is under the ‘Promos’ tab during the Statewide campaign in October.

What about certain types of transportation modes?

Q. What if I am driving an electric or hybrid vehicle?If there is more than one person in the car for the commute, then the all-electric or hybrid vehicle may count as a carpool. Driving alone in an all-electric/hybrid vehicle may reduce fuel usage and emissions, but does not reduce traffic congestion. Therefore, WSRO does not make all-electric/hybrid use alone eligible for the prize drawing.

Q. Why are motorcycles not included as an alternative mode?There are a number of reasons for this. First, one of the points of the campaign is to show options that allow for ridesharing. A motorcycle can qualify as a carpool if more than one person is riding the same cycle.

A second goal of the campaign is to encourage commuting methods that increase roadway capacity. Even given the relative size of a motorcycle to a car, there is still an issue of the number of vehicles using our state’s roadways. We believe that the best way to encourage people to use fewer vehicles overall is to encourage methods that promote personal or community connections, such as carpooling, biking, or riding the bus or train.

Third, the Wheel Options promotion has been created in large part to support Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Efficiency Act affected employers and worksites and so the Wheel Options eligibility guidelines and definitions mirror those of the CTR Act. The CTR views a motorcycle as a single-occupant vehicle unless it is transporting more than one person; then it is viewed as a carpool.

Q. What if I use a scooter to get to work?Power-assisted bicycles qualify as a bicycle towards this reward drawing. Motorized scooters of any type, whether meeting license requirements or not, count towards the campaign only when more than one person is sharing the commute, for the same reasons as listed above for motorcycles.

Q. Are there other types of foot-powered commuting that are eligible under the “walking” category?Yes, as long as it is a method of transportation where the foot is in contact with the ground, it is eligible in the “walking” category. This would therefore include skateboards, jogging, rollerblading, and non-motorized scooters.

Q. How do I record my commuting behavior when I have an alternative working schedule?There is an option on the calendar for “Telework” for when you work from home and do not make a trip into your worksite on that day. There is also an option for “Compressed Work Day.” Use this option on your flex day off to indicate the commute was not taken.

Q. I ride my bike to the park & ride to catch my bus to work. Can I track multiple commute modes on the calendar?Yes! When you click on the mode of travel and verify the details of your commute, you can change the “to” and the “from” for your trip. If you need to add a destination such as a Park & Ride or a different worksite, simply select “Add Address” from the drop-down menu when you confirm your trip. Once you add the first leg of your trip, click on the second mode that you used, confirm the trip details and click on the same day.

Q. How do I claim my reward if I am a winner?Your jurisdiction representative will contact your employee transportation coordinator to arrange for the delivery of your reward. If you do not have an employee transportation coordinator, then your jurisdiction representative will contact you directly.

Q. Are there any tax consequences for being a prize winner?WSRO will comply with the IRS reporting requirements for prize winners. According to IRS instructions, a Form 1099-MISC is required for any person receiving $600 and over in rewards, prizes and awards. For those rewards or prizes where there is an issue of what the actual worth of the prize is, the IRS regulations defining the fair market value of a prize will determine whether or not a 1099-MISC is filed. Recipients of prizes qualifying for a 1099-MISC must agree to provide the information necessary for the 1099-MISC in order to receive their prize; they should expect to receive their forms in time to file their appropriate tax returns. For prizes worth less than $600, it is the recipient’s responsibility to comply with all relevant IRS income reporting guidelines.

Q. If I’ve previously won a prize, am I eligible for this drawing as well?Yes. There are no restrictions on winners from previous campaigns registering and winning rewards or prizes in this campaign, provided they meet the eligibility requirements listed above.

Q. Do any of the sponsors receive my contact information? Will WSRO use my information for any other purpose?Absolutely not. WSRO will not sell, distribute, or otherwise disseminate your information to any third party. Information given by participants, both contact information and commuting information, will be kept confidential.

What are the Official Rules?Official RulesNo purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

EligibilityWheel Options statewide promotion is only open to legal residents physically located in Washington state.

Employees of sponsors (defined below) and their subsidiaries, promotion and advertising agencies, immediate family members of any such individuals (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live), or persons living in the same households of such individuals, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win a reward or prize. Only one reward or prize per household.

ScheduleThe promotion begins the first of the month and ends at 11:59 the last day of the month – so October 1 – 31 for the statewide promotion. Monthly trips must be logged in www.piercetrips.com by the next Friday of the following month to be eligible to be in the drawing.

How to enterNo purchase necessary. You are automatically entered once you complete and log six days of non-SOV commutes during the promotional period and those trips are tracked or logged. Trips are logged at www.piercetrips.com. You must submit all required data in order for your entry to be valid. Only one (1) entry per person. Online calendar entries may be entered until 11:59 p.m. PST the Friday of the next week after October 1st. For the Wheel Options October 2018 drawing, that day is Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.

RewardsWheel Options statewide reward or prize winners will be determined by a random drawing from all eligible entries recorded.

DrawingWheel Options statewide prize winners will be determined by a random drawing from all eligible entries recorded by the end of the entry period. The random drawing will be conducted by the Wheel Options/WSRO Promotions Advisory Committee, whose decisions are final with respect to all aspects of this promotion. Odds of winning depend upon the number of entries received. If by reason of a printing or other error, more prizes are claimed than the number set forth in these official rules, all persons making purportedly valid claims will be included in a random drawing to award the advertised number of prizes available in the prize category in question. No more than the advertised number of prizes will be awarded. All decisions of the Sponsors are final.

Conditions of entryBy participating in the promotion, each entrant unconditionally accepts and agrees to comply with and abide by these official rules, all eligibility requirements and the decisions of the sponsor, including the interpretation of these official rules and its exercise of discretion, which will be final and binding in all respects. Sponsors, their respective advertising and promotion agencies, and/or any telephone network or service providers are not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate transcription of entry information, or for any human error, technical malfunctions, lost/delayed data transmissions, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failures of any telephone network, computer equipment, software, inability to access any web site or online service, or any other error or malfunction, or late, lost, misdirected, illegible or postage due entries.

Any potential winner may be requested to provide sponsors with proof that he or she is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the winning entry. In case of dispute as to the identity of a winner who entered online, such entry will be declared made by the registered user of the email account, and if a prize is won, and such registered user is a valid entrant, the prize will be awarded to such registered user.